June 9, 2002
The Spanish Inn
was released in cinemas and garnered nearly five million admissions in Europe, including three in France.
A whole generation recognizes itself in the portrait that Cédric Klapisch then paints of youth.
Twenty years and two sequels later, the aura of Xavier, Wendy and their friends has not faded, and the film remains cult for many twenty-somethings of the time.
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"It's the result of an involuntary conjunction", explains the director.
“We switched to the euro in 2002, six months before the exit: there was enormous enthusiasm around a new possibility of mobility, reinforced by roaming, the digital revolution or programs like Erasmus.
At the same time, shared accommodation, which was then on the fringe, was gaining momentum.
The film was ultimately like a metaphor for this Europe under construction, but inside a kitchen and a bathroom!
Xavier's journey, which opened up his romantic and professional horizons thanks to Europe, resonated with young people.
In video,
The Spanish Inn
, the trailer
Generations
Young people immediately recognized themselves in the freedom and questioning of the characters, to which they remained faithful when the
Russian Dolls
and
Chinese Puzzles came
out .
Besides Truffaut with his Antoine Doinel, the filmmaker's trilogy is indeed the only saga of French cinema, anchored in a familiar culture and daily life, having allowed the French public to grow up with its heroes, then embodied by stars in the making.
“Romain Duris, Audrey Tautou or Cécile de France, then in full bloom, became the faces of a generation which saw them make more or less good choices, evolve, become parents… This inevitably creates an attachment, a bond, an identification”, concludes the director, who is currently shooting
Greek Salad
, the continuation of his saga, in series, for Amazon.
“The heroes are the children of Xavier and Wendy.
Twenty years later, youth and its codes have changed and, after Brexit and at the time of the war in Ukraine, Europe faces new challenges that are interesting to tell.”
